JUST IN: FEDS OPEN Investigation Into Disappearance of Saudi Students Facing U.S. Criminal Charges

Feb 13, 2019

The Trump administration has opened an investigation into the disappearance of over a dozen Saudi students who were in the U.S. studying at different colleges.

The students were living in at least eight different states and had been charged with crimes like manslaughter and sexual assault.

According to Oregon Live, the state of Oregon has the majority of cases of Saudi students who disappeared:

In Oregon, the suspects include two accused rapists, a pair of suspected hit-and-run drivers and one man accused of having a trove of child pornography on his computer. All five of the Oregon cases involved young men studying at a public college or university with assistance from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the time of their arrest.

The common theme with the cases is the Saudi government paid the bail and legal fees of the defendant. The lawyer at the center of the cases is Deborah Mooney. Authorities want to know how the students were able to travel internationally even though they had given up their passports.

ONE OF THE KEY CASES:
One of the students living in Oregon was speeding when his car fatally struck high schooler Fallon Smart (in the photo below on the right). The Saudi Consulate retained Deborah Mooney to work on his case. The Saudi government also cut a $100,000 check for the student pictured below on the left.

Portland police say Noorah, a Saudi national, was speeding when his car fatally struck Smart, 15, while she crossed the street in August 2016.

Over 40,000 Saudi students studied in the U.S. in 2017-2018.

Over one dozen Saudi students who have skipped the country to escape criminal charges are pointed out in the map below:

The two Saudi students below were accused of rape at two different Oregon universities:

There are more students with mostly charges of rape who have fled the U.S.

One solution could be that no more Saudi students are allowed to come to the U.S. to study unless the Saudis return the men accused of serious crimes.